srcu_init_notifier_head(9)

💅 srcu_init_notifier_head(9)

okay so real talk bestie, we're in the Kernel API Manual today and this page is about exactly one tiny function that everybody forgets to call. yes. that one. let's go ✨

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

srcu_init_notifier_head — Initialize an SRCU notifier head 🎀

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void srcu_init_notifier_head (struct srcu_notifier_head *nh );

literally that's the whole thing. one call. one pointer. no return value. slay 💅

---

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• nh — Pointer to head of the srcu notifier chain. it's the thing you're bringing to life. the main character, if you will 👑

---

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so here's the tea 🍓: unlike other sorts of notifier heads, SRCU notifier heads require dynamic initialization. like, they don't just come pre-warmed out of the box. no cap. so be sure to call this routine before calling any of the other SRCU notifier routines for this head — otherwise you're calling into something that isn't ready and it's giving chaos 😭

and listen, because this part is important and it's also the part people skip 🙈: if an SRCU notifier head is deallocated, it must first be cleaned up by calling srcu_cleanup_notifier_head. otherwise the head's per-cpu data (used by the SRCU mechanism) will leak. like, straight up leak. that memory is gone. it's not coming back. don't do that to yourself bestie 💀

fr fr, init before you use it, cleanup before you free it. that's the whole vibe. 🫶

---

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

Kernel file ./kernel/notifier.c — and all these iconic siblings of ours:

• notifier_call_chain(9)
• notifier_call_chain_robust(9)
• atomic_notifier_chain_register(9)
• atomic_notifier_chain_register_unique_prio(9)
• atomic_notifier_chain_unregister(9)
• atomic_notifier_call_chain(9)
• atomic_notifier_call_chain_is_empty(9)
• blocking_notifier_chain_register(9)
• blocking_notifier_chain_register_unique_prio(9)
• blocking_notifier_chain_unregister(9)
• blocking_notifier_call_chain(9)
• raw_notifier_chain_register(9)
• raw_notifier_chain_unregister(9)
• raw_notifier_call_chain(9)
• srcu_notifier_chain_register(9)
• srcu_notifier_chain_unregister(9)
• srcu_notifier_call_chain(9)

---

🌈 and that's the page!! this one's living in ./kernel, dated October 2026, and it answers to the name srcu_init_notifier_head(9) — go call it before you do anything else, k? byeeee 💜🧚